Knee pads are commonly used for protecting knees in sporting and leisure activities. Traditional knee pads only provide a protective function and not a support function. These traditional protective knee pads have rigid pads, often of the hard plastic “shell” type, with straps to keep the pads in place. The straps do not provide a support function. Some knee pads are designed as a sleeve that slides onto the wearer's leg over the foot, while others have detachable straps that are secured to the pad and wrap around the back of the wearer's knee. The straps, which often extend around the back of the leg, also tend to slide because there generally is not an attachment structure over and under the knee to keep a pad in place. Straps fastening behind the knee are ordinarily ineffective in preventing slippage, since there are no protruding surfaces on the back of the leg to hold the straps in place vertically along the length of the upright leg. Moreover, the straps going around the back of the knee are uncomfortable for the wearer because these straps are often relatively thin and dig into flesh in the back of the knee. This can be particularly painful during knee flexion, when the straps can be pinched between the flesh of the rear thigh and calf. Further, a rigid pad may impair movement and does not generally allow the pad to flex with the knee during activity.
Orthopedic supports sometimes have some sort of padding associated therewith, but these types of supports have not provided the desired flexibility and comfort for the wearer. Another problem that arises with support type of pads is that they tend to be warm and tend to fit snugly around the knee, causing perspiration to accumulate between the support and the wearer's leg. Ventilation around the knee may not be available when the pad is in place. Therefore, removal of the pad is necessary to allow for ventilation. Unfortunately, removal of the pad may require removal of the entire knee pad assembly if the pad is removable at all. This problem is particularly acute in knee pads used in sporting events such as volleyball, basketball, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, wrestling and other sports, where a soft, sleeve-type pad is used, necessitating the wearer to remove his or her shoes in order to remove the knee pad. A flexible knee pad which is easy to put on without removal of shoes or other pieces of apparel, that readily permits pad replacement, and that also supports the wearer's knee (or other joints) as well as permits some ventilation is desirable.